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Sakura Aiko
'''Sakura Aiko (桜愛子''' Aiko Sakura'') is a priestess, knight, and the female deuteragonist of the series. She wields The Sword of Seishin, and comes from a far away village called Eikonura. ' Appearance Sakura is a girl of pale complexion and grass green eyes. She has vibrant orange-red hair and a small stature. Sakura pt1.jpg|Sakura (Part I) sakura part 2 chibi.jpg|Sakura (Part II-Chibi ver) In Part I, upon introduction, Sakura wears her hair loose, with a portion of it being tied into two shrine maiden ponytails framing her face. After leaving Eikonura, Sakura cuts off her hair and leaves it behind as a memoir for her village and family. Thus, her regular appearance is that of a small, petite girl with short orange-red hair and bangs. She wears a red ribbon on the back of her hair, and dons the usual priestess outfit, made up of a white jacket with long sleeves, red hakama pants and a bow tied at the waist to keep the pants up. She wears rice straw sandals on her feet. At one point, she switches her red pants for a red hakama skirt. In Part II, Sakura's hair has grown much longer, reaching to around her elbows. She starts wearing a white medical eyepatch over her left eye to keep her new powers sealed after her battle with Dranous. Notably, this eye patch hides a now blind, white eye. Sakura's outfit in Part II is a red healer dress with round sleeves and a nun neckline. The neckline stops below her collar bone. The dress is adorned with golden crosses and accompanied by a white ribbon tied around the waist. The corset of her healer dress is white, and her skirt is a three-way slitted red one with white underneath and golden crosses. On her feet she wears red boots with white trimming. Her red ribbon, however, remains. Personality Sakura is the motivator of the group, due to her highly optimistic, positive attitude towards life. She can find the bright side to every situation and has a very open, outgoing and naturally friendly attitude. Being an extremely kind, selfless, and gentle person, Sakura is always thinking of others before herself. She is very understanding, and empathetic. Because of her pacifistic and compassionate nature, however, Sakura is unable to combat offensvely, and is perceived as being weak. The opposite is true, as Sakura has proven to be quite brave, and her emotional strength, spiritual wisdom, and maturity prove to be a notable asset to the team. She works as the emotional supporter of the group, but despite always being more than willing to listen to others problems, she seems to keep her own issues to herself, stating she doesn't want to burden others. Similarly, she seems to lack some self confidence, often doubting her own abilities and worth, especially because of her inability to fight physically and offensively. However, this is often hidden by her optimistic and happy attitude. Sakura remains calm during stressful situations, and is highly clever and intelligent in overcoming obstacles. Still, she always prioritizes her friends and other's well-being, putting her in a vulnerable position in combat. Backstory Upon her birth, the mark of the deity Benzaiten appeared on her shoulder blades, meaning Sakura was chosen by Benzaiten to be the next vessel to the goddess (and, by default, Eikonura's new high priestess after Minori). Since then, Sakura was trained in healing, purification, and various other rituals. As a result, Sakura was deprived from a regular childhood, and the only human relationships and interactions she could maintain were with her sister, Kraehe, and her teachers. When she turned ten years old, Sakura became deathly ill. Thanks to her training, her powers had been growing and intensifying, leaving her physically drained and weak. Sakura was then purified in a misogiharai ritual and her powers were healed. In order for her to recover, she was sent to a nearby village of nomads, where she would live like a regular girl and stay away from using her powers. Sakura lived very happily within that new village, planting rice, working with crops, and making friends for the first time. The town didn't know her true identity, so Sakura was treated normally the way she'd always longed to be. Tragedy struck when a neighboring group of nomads attacked the village, declaring war on the village in search of gold and crops. Fearing the complete annihilation of the village, she used the power of Benzaiten to end the war, single-handedly cleansing the village and repelling the attacking nomads. The people of the village recognized Sakura's power and saw her as a "divine being" due to her connection with the gods. As such, the village was in an uproar and began to worship Sakura as a goddess. They made her a shrine, temple, and royalty. The news spread to Eikonura, and Kraehe, Sakura's elder sister, was sent to retrieve Sakura and was shocked to find that Sakura was now regarded as a goddess and had a shrine built for her. Kraehe immideately sent Sakura back and cut off all contact Sakura had with the village. Sakura returned to a state of isolation and loneliness, as the people of Eikonura heard of her feat and also went to pray to her, asking her to send their prayers to Benzaten. This turn of events led to a strain in Sakura's relationship with her sister and sole remaining friend, Kraehe, as her sister became resentful towards Sakura; while Sakura yearned for the freedom and normalcy Kraehe had, whereas Kraehe wanted the exulation and attention Sakura was given. Kraehe was treated as a regular shrine maiden and given no attention or care, while Sakura was treated almost like royalty even in the temple. At the age of twelve, Sakura resumed her training, but to avoid another illness, the training was much less intense. The following year, Kraehe (who was seventeen) fell in love with a boy named Raj. Despite the vow of celibacy all shrine maiden's take, Raj and Kraehe are discovered to have spent the night together. Minori has no choice but to force Kraehe out of the temple and forbid her to see Raj. Kraehe, outraged, turns to the god of revenge, Emma-O. She attempts an offering ritual to Emma-O in exchange for the destruction of all who keep her from seeing Raj. However, Minori catches Kraehe in the ritual and must deem Kraehe a "corrupt soul" and heretic unless Kraehe repents. Kraehe refuses to repent, and Sakura is forced to assist with the ablution and exile ritual for Kraehe - in which Kraehe's name and history will be erased, her family will disown her, and she will be burned at the stake to die for her sins. She desperately attempts to save Kraehe, but is stopped, saying it is her duty as the chosen vessel of Benzaiten to perform the ritual. Sakura must perform the ritual and, sobbing, watches as her sister and only friend is burned to death. Since then, Sakura developed a fear and dislike of life as a priestess, and her yearning for a normal life only grew after this event. Two years later, Minori becomes infected with a plague that overcomes the entire region and threatens to kill off the village. Sakura prays to Benzaiten, and while most of the village survives, Minori passes away. Sakura, who finished her priestess training at sixteen, be default becomes the new High Priestess of Eikonura. She Synopsis Sword of Seishin Arc When Koizume and Echo arrive at the Eikonura temple, Sakura is waiting for them, stating she had a dream that they'd come. Koizume explains their motive- finding a way to assemble the eight knights in order to stop the apocalypse. However, the leader of the knights, Umi, was murdered. Sakura says the only solution would be to travel to another dimension and find the reincarnated form of Umi, however there is only one item that can travel through time and dimensions- the Sword of Seishin. Sakura explains it is one of the eight lost swords, so it may take years to search for it, then states that she has something for Koizume- it's the Hinokami-no-Ken, the sword of the fire knight, since he is the chosen fire knight and thus he is the only one allowed and able to wield it. The next morning, Sakura finds a scroll that states the Sword of Seishin will be in the northern regions of Cascilla. She says that only the spirit knight is able to wield the sword, so they must also track down the knight. Koizume reveals that the Sisters of the Dawn instructed them to work with Sakura, who then states she cannot help them due to her job as high priestess. She agrees to train Koizume to use the Sword of the Fire God, however. They spend some time training, but after three days, they are interrupted by an attack on the village. A death demon appears, searching for the Hinokami-no-ken, as it's power was unsealed by Koizume. Sakura, Echo, and Koizume team up to defeat the demons that attack the village. Sakura spends the next day healing the unjured and performing various protection and cleansing rituals for the village. The next night, she has a dream of herself sending Echo and Koizume off alone, and then the world ending, showing that if she doesn't help them, the apocalypse will come. Thus, she decides to go with them. Sakura escapes at night with Echo and Koizume, leaving note appoining Tani as the stand-in high priestess while Sakura is gone. The trio first head to Ruriko town. There they encounter a fortune teller who is possessed by Emma-O, the revenge god. Sakura purifies the fortune teller, but when she exorcises Emma-O, it kills the fortune teller. The village people are outraged and take Sakura prisoner, threatening to execute her. While in the prison, Sakura senses dark energy all over the village. After being rescued by Echo and Koizume, Sakura performs a misogiharae ritual on the entire village. It saves the village from being corrupted by demons, and gives the trio a clue to the sword's whereabouts, as a shard of the sword is found which was in hiding due to the village's dark energy. The trio uses the shard to visit the Sisters of the Dawn, who offer no help except that the shard will react when it gets closer to the sword. At Couel city, Sakura and Koizume stay up late at night researching for the sword's whereabouts. During this time, Sakura learns the truth about Koizume's tragic history with Umi, and his promise to save her brother. He explains that Umi was the first person to take care of him due to his childhood as a poor orphan. Sakura begins to cry, being able to feel Koizume's pain due to her magic. Koizume tells her not to cry, but then begins to cry himself. She comforts him, and this is the first time Koizume allows himself to truly grieve and mourn for the first time, which allows him a sense of relief and less pain. Later, they find that the Black Mages who killed Umi and kidnapped Kokoro are searching for all the swords as well. The mages appear at Couel city and attempt to steal the shard of the Seishin-no-ken. The trio fights them, but the mages retreat and escape. Sakura continus to help Koizume train with the Hinokami-no-ken, but it grows increasingly difficult for him, and starts to leave burn marks on his skin. Sakura treats the injuries, but explains that the sword is hurting Koizume because it's power is running wild since Koizume has not linked himself with the sword yet. After several failed attempts at a linking ritual, Sakura encourages Koizume to be patient and try later, explaining that fire is the hardest element to tame, making the ritual more difficult on him than any other knight. The trio finds an abandoned temple in the mountains, near Omairi town. Upon entering, they are attacked by monsters sent by the black mages. Sakura's powers are useless in the temple due to a sealing spell placed over it. While Koizume fights the monsters, she searches for what is corruptng the temple. She finds an underground worshipping area. Upon destroying the sealing spell she finds there, a large monster - Akumoji - appears. The Akumoji was the thing haunting the temple. Sakura succeeds in destroying the monster with the help of Echo, but is gravely wounded in the process. She begins to have a vision - glowing black dots over several villages on a map of Cascilla, and a cave giving off dark energy. When they return back to an inn in Omairi town, Sakura goes to do research and finds an old myth that the Gods placed monsters in several towns and villages in order to guard the area where each sword was hidden. Sakura begins to construct a map that may lead the trio to the sword. The next day, Sakura debriefs her findings to Koizume and Echo. In order to do further research, the trio moves to Magna city, where the largest, oldest in Cascilla library is located. She explains that before they attempt to tread to Whiteshadow, Koizume must learn to manage his sword, or they will face certain death. They find themselves in another town near the capital of Cascilla, at a place called Miron inn. There, the innkeeper, Kiane, offers to help train Koizume. She then joins their cause, as the black mages murdered her family and she wants to end their organization. The inn becomes their headquarters. Sakura continues to do research there on Whiteshadow, attempting to find clues about where on the mountain the sword may be. She finds that there is a treasure scroll listing the exact spot, and goes in search of it alone, wanting Koizume to keep practicing. Echo, who was badly injured, stays at the inn to heal. Sakura travels to Hoark Road, a run down town where lost things are often found. Relationships '''Koizume Takahara ' Main article: ''Koizume Takahara Sakura's sole love interest in the series is Koizume. The two first offcially meet after Koizume seeks her help to find the reincarnated form of Umi so that the Eight Knights of Cascilla may be assembled. Sakura's ability to see the good in him when he was struggling through times of self-hatred and blaming himself over Umi's death, helped him heal from his grief, creating a deep bond between them. As they travel together, their relationship becames increasingly strong, as they find kinship within each other, having led difficult childhoods as well as suffered through the loss of family. Likewise, they developed mutual respect and admiration. Sakura began to fall in love with Koizume during their time searching for the Sword of Seishin. Her feelings grew very strong for him, but despite this, she didn't act or speak upon these feelings. Sakura's heart was repeatedly pained by the knowledge that Koizume's first and only love was Umi, and the sole reason they even met was because of his determination to see Umi again. After Izumi (Umi's reincarnated form) appears, Sakura's heart is broken many times, but she states that even if she knows it's hopeless, she will never stop loving him, even if it's unrequited love forever, and that she cannot love anyone else, even when Koizume asks her to move on from him. Sakura states that she is content as long as she can be by his side and as long as he is happy. In Part II, after a painful separation, Sakura cries and falls to her knees upon seeing Koizume. She shows anger for the first time in the series, asking why he disappeared and left her worried sick about him. It is shown that during his absence, she wrote him letters daily and, even grew his favorite type of plant. At the end of the series, she sacrifices herself for Izumi, knowing that Koizume would be heartbroken if Izumi died a second time. This is her ultimate proof of love for both him and Izumi, two of the people that she loves most in the world. In the very last chapter of the series, it is seen that Sakura's reincarnation, a modern-day student named Ami, feels odd when she sees Koizume on the streets, even stopping to stare at him as he walks by. She is also reborn with a birthmark on her stomach that resembles the scar she received from fighting Xerosous. While Sakura's reincarnation never regains her memories of Koizume fully, she ends up falling in love with him all over again. '''Echo' Main Article: ''Echo Sakura's closest friend is Echo. Their similarly bright and friendly personalities created a fast and easy friendship between them. They are each other's biggest cheerleaders, constantly encouraging and supporting one another with positivity. At the end of Part I, after the Eight Knights of Cascilla part ways after Koizume and Izumi's disappearance, Sakura and Echo stay together, unlike the rest of the knights who go their separate ways. It is shown that Echo was the one who helped Sakura quit her job as high priestess and who suggested she start studying magic. In Part II, it is revealed that Sakura and Echo live together in an apartment and are studying together at an academy. Sakura is working to become a certified healer and has her own apothecary shop, whereas Echo wants to become a royal paladin and train other knights. Sakura views Echo as a brother and is always worrying about and attempting to take care of him, while he does the same for her. They have a playful, loving relationship. '''Kina Akahoshi ' Main Article: ''Kina Akahoshi Sakura is both an older sister and mother figure to Kina. Sakura is very gentle, tender, and loving to Kina, constantly doting on the girl. From the beginning, Sakura displayed a great deal of patience when dealing with Kina's arrogant and brash attitude. Sakura was the first person who saw that the rude attitude Kina used was only a defense mechanism. Because Sakura was able to see the true goodness in Kina's heart, Kina became attached to her, as Sakura was the first to understand Kina and see past her attitude. Sakura cares a great deal for Kina, and even before they were close, she was never annoyed or frustrated with Kina, unlike most people. The two are like older and younger sisters who care about each other and will do anything for one another. Sakura often enjoys braiding or styling Kina's hair, and is shown to be very protective of Kina. '''Kraehe Aiko ' Main Article: Kraehe AikoKraehe Aiko Kraehe is Sakura's older sibling. Although the feeling was not mutual, Sakura admired Kraehe a great deal and loved her, constantly asking to play with and spend time with Kraehe. Since she grew up mostly isolated from outside interaction, Kraehe was Sakura's first and only friend. Sakura did a great deal to try and save Kraehe from being burned at the stake. Upon failing to do so, Sakura blames herself, and it remains one of her biggest regrets. When lost in the Nightmare Mist, the image Sakura kept seeing was Kraehe being burned and then saying "It's your fault I'm dead, Sakura. I hate you." It remains one of her biggest nightmares and scars until the Underworld Arc, in which Sakura encounters Kraehe's deceased spirit, which is trapped in purgatory due to her cruel death. Sakura helps free Kraehe's spirit by finding Raj and giving him a letter written by the spirit of Kraehe. During this mission, Kraehe admits that she at times resented Sakura, but that she never stopped loving her. The two sisters cry and embrace before Kraehe's spirit moves on to the spirit world, after which Sakura is also saved from her guilt-ridden thoughts. Minori Aiko ' ''Main Article: ''Minori Aiko While she loved and cared for her mother, Sakura also held some resentment towards her. Due to her busy work as the high priestess, Minori didn't spend much time with Sakura, and as a result Sakura was raised by another priestess, Tani. While Sakura called Tani mom, she addressed Minori as "Miko-Sama", even when they were alone as a family. It was Minori who forced Sakura to take part in the abulution ritual of Kaehe, and it was also Minori who deprivated her of a normal childhood with friends and outside interaction- both things which caused resentment on Sakura's part. However, Minori also took care of Sakura like a true mother when she was attacked by some Shinioni, and sincerely wanted the best for her, which Sakura knew and recognized. After Minori's death, Sakura is heartbroken and feels guilty for resenting her mom, wishing they could've been closer. She visits her sister and mother's graves every year. '''Tani Omimura ' Main Article: ''Tani Omimura Tani was the second highest ranked priestess at the Eikonura temple, and served as Sakura's secondary mom. While Minori was busy with her High Priestess duties, it was Tani who raised and cared for Sakura, doting on her often but also being strict on her training. As a result, Sakura views Tani as her "mother" and even callls her mom, doing this even while her biological mother was alive. Sakura cosntantly visits Tani, and has a large amount of respect and trust for her, as seen by how Sakura gives the role of High Priestess to Tani, believing Tani will do the best job. Since she views Tani as her mother, Sakura loves the woman dearly and regularly writes to her and worries about her well-being. Sakura is also always buying souveniers for Tani in every town she visits. '''Yui Akahoshi ' Main Article: ''Yui Akahoshi As she does with his twin sister, Sakura has a loving, close relaitonship with Yui, Kina's twin brother. Yui developed an innocent crush on Sakura upon meeting her due to her sweet, nurturing nature. However, Sakura only ever saw Yui as a younger brother and friend whom she wanted to take care of. Sakura loves Yui's sweet personality and often fawns over him like a mother, much as she does with Kina. Upon realizing his crush on her, Sakura gently tells Yui that he'll meet someone else to fall in love with soon, and that she sees him as family. The two are very close and Yui trusts Sakura the most, always telling her secrets, whereas Sakura will go to all lengths to protect and take care of the twins, even letting them get away with mischiveous, cheeky acts due to her doting love for them. Powers & Abilities *'Illusion Jutsu **'Each of the Eight Knights of Cascilla has a special jutsu, which depends on their element. Sakura's jutsu is illusion, which is directly in corrolation to her psychic magic and spiritual abilities. ***'Cloning: '''Sakura can create illusions that make it look as if there are several clones of herself. These clones do not have powers, but they can move and act just like her. Used to confuse an enemy. Sakura can create up to twenty clones, all easily dispatched ***'Psychokinesis: Moving objects at will. The larger and heavier the object the more difficult. Sakura can manipulate up to three - two channeling energy from her hands, one using her mind alone. ***'Phantasms: '''Sakura can create illusions that affect the five senses, making others believe that they see, feel, hear, smell, or taste something that they do not. *'Psychic Abilities ''' **As the fifth Knight, Sakura was given the Sword of Seishin (Spirit Sword) and thus possesses many spirit and psychic related powers. She can't access these powers unless given her sword. These powers are: ***'Clairvoyance: '''Sakura has predictive dreams. However, she cannot control these dreams, and they come to her at random times. Often these visions do not tell the entire story, and are not extremely informative, but pieces of future events that Sakura must interpret on her own. ***'Psychometry: 'When touching an object, Sakura is able to see or feel memories or emotions attached to said object. This allows her to gain insight on past events. ***'Telepathy: Sakura is able to project her thoughts and emotions unto others. The further she is from the person, the more difficult this projection is. Unfortunately, this works two ways, and Sakura is often the victim of feeling or hearing other's negative emotions and thoughts. However, she can only hear strong emotions or thoughts, and can't regularly read minds and feelings. ***'Force Field: '''A force field crafted from the energy of Sakura's mind is immune to physical objects, such as spears, arrows, rocks, etc. and can physically protect others by reflecting the objects off the field. It is a combination of mental energy barrier and reverse telekinesis. *'Priestess Abilities''' **Chosen by the goddess Benzaiten as the next high priestess, Sakura was trained to be the next high priestess since birth. She was given a special connection to Benzaiten, which makes her exceptionally powerful in spirit and lucky. These abilities include: ***'Harae: '''One of Sakura's abilities gifted by Benzaiten includes purification, as Sakura is meant to purify and guard the current world. Her purification abilities are large and can cleanse objects and places that have been corrupted by or injected with darkness and death, but it is a long ritual. ***'Misogi: Sakura cannot cure a person or being made or born from darkness. However, through Misogi, she can perform a cleansing ritual (ablution) on others who are being corrupted by their own sins, guilt, or other forms of darkness. This requires a person to confess and repent their wrongs. It is a ritual that is extremely painful for the repenting person. This is what Sakura performed on Kraehe when she was fourteen. ***'Sight: '''Sakura possesses the Sight, which is the ability to see spirits, ghosts, and shadows that roam the mortal world. She can also communicate with them and understand their language. ***'High Heavens: 'Perhaps the most rare and powerful ability Sakura was gifted with is the High Heavens, the ability to connect and speak with those in the High Heavens. This allows Sakura not only to speak to the deceased, but gives her essential contact with deities. *'Herb Specialist **'Sakura was trained in herbs and healing while she worked as a high priestess. She studied rigorously since she was young enough to read, and has thus accumulated a great deal of knowledge in regards to herbs, plants and their utilities. As a result she is a highly skilled herbalist and can use nearly any disposable plants or herbs to concoct a useful antidote or medication. Equipment *'The Sword of Seishin ' **'The sword belonging to the Spirit Knight (Sakura), Seishin is the fifth sword and was born from the element spirit. When wielding it, Sakura gains access to her illusionary jutsu. Seishin is capable of cutting through magical attacks (such as Sakura's ability to cut through Meiling's metal walls and Dranous's Mystic Ice Cell), as well as having the regular uses of another sword. *'Herbs' **'Sakura carries pouches, bags, poultices, and jars containing a large assortment of herbs. She regularly adds herbs and plants to her already massive collection by picking plants or herbs from the forest and village plantations/gardens while traveling, as well as purchasing them in markets. *'Talismans ' **'As a priestess, Sakura brings a moderate amount of talismans along with her at all times. These can prove useful in battle and everday events. Among her talismans are protection barrier talismans that gard against evil, lucky talismans, and many more. Battles & Events toggle Trivia *Sakura was the second character invented in the series. *Sakura's original name was Ami. *Sakura, at first, was your average 16-Year-Old girl living in Tokyo, Japan, who had psychic visions about the past of Cascilla. *Sakura's sword is the fifth sword because it represents the "fifth" element, Spirit. *Sakura's last name, Aiko, is made up of "Ai" which means love, and "Ko" which means one of, making her last name mean "One of love". *Despite being the most powerful of the Knights (along with Shadow), her pacifist nature stops her from using offensive spells unless necessary. Quotes *''"Don't close your heart up to others because of the things you've suffered, or the loss you've grieved. Open it up for the the love you'll feel, so that someday your tears are happy ones." ' ''' *''"I've felt pain before. A lot of it. Because of that, I couldn't possibly want to cause pain or harm on others. After experiencing it, how could I want others to suffer like I did? How could I want someone to feel so terrible?"'' *''"It's alright if I'm not a fighter like everyone else...It's okay if I can't use my sword like that. I have another strength, in my mind, in my heart...and I promise you that I can win this battle, even without picking up my sword!"'' *''"Love is everywhere, even in hate. If you can hate, you can love- the line between the two is so thin that many cross it without knowing. It's only when you don't feel anything, no hate, no love, that you should worry, because only then do you become lost." '' Category:Knights Category:Main Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Humans Category:Medieval characters Category:Medieval Japan Category:Stubs Category:Characters Category:Pages